# Flight of the Red Balloon
**Flight of the Red Balloon** (French: *Le voyage du ballon rouge*; Chinese: 红气球) is a 2007 France-Taiwan drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, loosely inspired by Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short film *The Red Balloon*. It stars [Juliette Binoche](https://www.edgepedia.org/juliette-binoche) as Suzanne, a harried Parisian puppet-theater artist who hires a Taiwanese film student, Song Fang, to look after her seven-year-old son Simon, while a mysterious red balloon follows the boy through the city.[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) • [2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/76023/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / year | Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2007; a France-Taiwan co-production[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) |
| Original title | *Le voyage du ballon rouge*[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/76023/) |
| Commission | First film in a series initiated by Musée d'Orsay director Serge Lemoine for the museum's 20th anniversary[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/) |
| Festival | Opened the Un Certain Regard section at the 60th Cannes Festival, 2007[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/) |
| Cast | Juliette Binoche (Suzanne), Simon Iteanu (Simon), Song Fang (Song), Hippolyte Girardot (Marc), Louise Margolin (Louise)[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) |
| Key crew | Screenplay Hou Hsiao-Hsien and François Margolin; cinematography Mark Lee Ping Bing; producers Margolin and Kristina Larsen[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/76023/) |
| Running time | 113 minutes[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) |
| Reception | 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 89 reviews; Metascore 86 on Metacritic[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_of_the_red_balloon) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flight-of-the-red-balloon/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and style
Suzanne works in puppet theater, a recurring Hou motif, but can barely manage her job between demanding neighbors, a court case against a downstairs tenant who refuses to leave, and the needs of her seven-year-old son Simon. She hires Song, a Taiwanese film student in Paris, to look after him. Song films Simon with her camcorder, citing Lamorisse's short as her own inspiration, and the two form a bond as a red balloon follows the boy across the roofs of Paris.[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_of_the_red_balloon) • [12](https://www.flicks.co.uk/reviews/review-flight-of-the-red-balloon/)
Hou contrasts the desaturated, cold tones of the Parisian streets with the warm color and messiness of Suzanne's home, and uses red, a symbol of good luck in [Chinese culture](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-culture), as a lyrical thread.[1](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/) Cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bing keeps a distance from the characters, framing them in relatively long, static shots, and the balloon shots, accompanied by piano music without dialogue, often run around 40 seconds; the shot of the balloon floating through the Paris skies that leads into the museum scene runs almost 50 seconds.[13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-18-et-balloon18-story.html) • [14](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32s0v195) In one noted scene, Simon's class visits the [Musée d'Orsay](https://www.edgepedia.org/musee-dorsay) and discusses Vallotton's painting in cinematic terms of perspective, angle, and point of view, with Simon identifying the artist's vantage as a "high angle shot".[14](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32s0v195) • [15](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/mar/16/drama.worldcinema)
## Origin and commission
The film grew out of a project by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris to mark its 20th anniversary. Producer François Margolin described the arrangement: the museum's director, Serge Lemoine, initiated a series bringing contemporary artists, in this case world-class filmmakers, together with the museum's Impressionist and [Art Nouveau](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-nouveau) treasures, on the simple condition that the museum be present in the film, either throughout or in a single scene. This commission brought Hou to scout locations in Paris for the first time.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/)
The directors' brief was to use a painting from the museum's collection of 19th and early 20th century French art as a loose starting point, and Hou chose *Le ballon* (1899) by the Swiss Post-Impressionist Félix Vallotton. The painting appears only in the film's final scene, in details obscured by light and reflections, never in a full establishing shot. The red ball or balloon chased by a child in that painting may or may not have inspired Lamorisse's short *Le ballon rouge* (1956), which the closing credits of Hou's film state served as its loose basis.[6](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/cteq/flight-of-the-red-balloon/) Lamorisse's short had won the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) for short films at the 1956 Cannes festival.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/)
Although [Jim Jarmusch](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-jarmusch) and Raúl Ruiz were initially involved in the Orsay project, [Olivier Assayas](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivier-assayas)' *L'heure d'été* (*Summer Hours*, 2008) was the only other feature produced in the series.[6](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/cteq/flight-of-the-red-balloon/)
## Place in Hou's career
For Hou, a leading figure of the Taiwan New Wave whose *City of Sadness* won the [Golden Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-lion) at Venice in 1989, the film marked a step outward from Taiwan.[7](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=12239&pyear=2007) It was his second project shot outside his homeland, after the Japan-set *[Café Lumière](https://www.edgepedia.org/cafe-lumiere)* (2003), and his first film in French, a language he does not speak.[8](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flight-of-the-red-balloon-1) • [9](https://www.straight.com/article-151179/flight-red-balloon) Film scholar Michelle E. Bloom, author of *Contemporary Sino-French Cinemas*, describes the film as too loosely related to Lamorisse's original to be called a remake, qualifying instead as a "makeover" in Andrew Horton's term, and places it within a Sino-French cinema that also includes [Tsai Ming-liang](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsai-ming-liang)'s Louvre-commissioned *Face* (2009).[10](https://doi.org/10.21313/hawaii/9780824851583.003.0004) • [11](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780824857455_A37190226/preview-9780824857455_A37190226.pdf)
## Release and reception
The film premiered as the opener of Un Certain Regard at the 60th Cannes Festival in May 2007 and received French release on 30 January 2008, followed by releases in Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain through 2009.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/) • [2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/76023/) In the United States, IFC First Take gave it a limited theatrical release on 4 April 2008, grossing $459.4K.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_of_the_red_balloon)
Critical response was strongly positive in aggregate: the film holds 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 89 reviews and a Metascore of 86, which Metacritic labels "universal acclaim".[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_of_the_red_balloon) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flight-of-the-red-balloon/critic-reviews/) Manohla Dargis wrote in *The New York Times* that what elevates Hou's films toward the sublime is not the stories but their telling.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flight-of-the-red-balloon/critic-reviews/) Responses were not uniform: *The Guardian*'s Philip French called it a "slightly pointless homage" to Lamorisse's fantasy, while Time Out gave it five stars and called it one of Hou's finest.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/mar/16/drama.worldcinema) • [8](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flight-of-the-red-balloon-1) The Busan festival's program note read the update as a change of meaning: where Lamorisse's 1956 balloon carried hope for children's freedom, Hou depicts a contemporary society in which such freedom for children does not exist.[7](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=12239&pyear=2007)
The film's afterlife includes homage: in *[Girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/girl-2025-film)* (2026), the first feature directed by Taiwanese actress [Shu Qi](https://www.edgepedia.org/shu-qi), a red balloon floats out of a schoolbag in a nod to her mentor's film.[16](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/08/07/in-girl-a-taiwanese-schoolgirl-longs-for-freedom-in-the-face-of-everyday-brutality_6756269_30.html)
## References
1. [The Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du Balloon Rouge), AFI FEST 2007](https://fest.afi.com/2007/world-cinema-2007/the-flight-of-the-red-balloon-le-voyage-du-balloon-rouge/)
2. [Flight of the Red Balloon, Cineuropa film profile](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/76023/)
3. [Un Certain Regard: "Flight of the Red Balloon" by Hou Hsiao Hsien, Festival de Cannes (17 May 2007)](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2007/un-certain-regard-flight-of-the-red-balloon-by-hou-hsiao-hsien/)
4. [Flight of the Red Balloon, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_of_the_red_balloon)
5. [Flight of the Red Balloon critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flight-of-the-red-balloon/critic-reviews/)
6. [Darragh O'Donoghue, "Flight of the Red Balloon (Le voyage du ballon rouge, 2007)", Senses of Cinema, September 2016](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/cteq/flight-of-the-red-balloon/)
7. [Flight of the Red Balloon, Busan International Film Festival archive, 2007](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=12239&pyear=2007)
8. [David Jenkins, "Flight of the Red Balloon" review, Time Out, 11 March 2008](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flight-of-the-red-balloon-1)
9. [Ken Eisner, "Flight of the Red Balloon", The Georgia Straight, 25 June 2008](https://www.straight.com/article-151179/flight-red-balloon)
10. [Michelle E. Bloom, "Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon as a Sino-French Makeover", Contemporary Sino-French Cinemas, University of Hawai'i Press, 2016](https://doi.org/10.21313/hawaii/9780824851583.003.0004)
11. [Michelle E. Bloom, Contemporary Sino-French Cinemas, preview PDF](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780824857455_A37190226/preview-9780824857455_A37190226.pdf)
12. [Review: Flight of the Red Balloon, Flicks](https://www.flicks.co.uk/reviews/review-flight-of-the-red-balloon/)
13. ["'Red Balloon' homage floats easily", Los Angeles Times, 18 April 2008](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-18-et-balloon18-story.html)
14. [Michelle E. Bloom, "The absent father of Sino-French cinema: contemporary Taiwanese cinema and 1950s French auteurs", Journal of Chinese Cinemas](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32s0v195)
15. [Philip French, "Flight of the Red Balloon", The Guardian, 15 March 2008](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/mar/16/drama.worldcinema)
16. ["In 'Girl,' a Taiwanese schoolgirl longs for freedom", Le Monde, 7 August 2026](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/08/07/in-girl-a-taiwanese-schoolgirl-longs-for-freedom-in-the-face-of-everyday-brutality_6756269_30.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s › Biographical and historical drama films 2000s › Released 2006 to 2009*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026; Nov 11, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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